(Yes, I know I did this last week. Things have changed.)
Shockingly enough, Maryland is still in the ACC race. I have trouble believing it too, and they’d need a lot of help, but by some miracle they’re still there. And not only are they still there, they’re still there even after getting jumped by two teams. Here’s what the standings are at present moment.
Florida State 4-2 .667 7-2 .778
Wake Forest 4-2 .667 6-3 .667
Maryland 3-2 .600 6-3 .667
Boston College 2-3 .400 6-3 .667
Clemson’s all but officially out, so they’re not considered again. Boston College is pretty much out as well, though they do hold an extremely slim outside chance – I’m not going to talk about them in this post. That leaves FSU and Wake Forest tied at #1, with FSU Wake holding the tiebreaker. Maryland is just a half-game behind. Check out the remaining schedules after the jump.
Florida State:
11/15/08 vs. Boston College
11/22/08 at Maryland
11/29/08 vs. Florida
Wake Forest:
11/15/08 at North Carolina State
11/22/08 vs. Boston College
11/29/08 vs. Vanderbilt
Maryland:
11/15/08 vs. North Carolina
11/22/08 vs. Florida State
11/29/08 at Boston College
Now, those may look lopsided, and they are. Florida State plays Boston College, who’s not a pushover, and Maryland. Their game against Florida isn’t a conference game, and so doesn’t contribute to the conference standings. Hopefully, they’ll overlook UMD as they look ahead to the like top 3 or 4 ranked Gators.
Wake Forest has a game that could be a walkthrough – against NCST – but give the Wolfpack some credit. They beat ECU early in the year, and gave us a run for our money. I also can’t see Tom O’Brien just letting his team pack it in for the year without an ACC win. They’ll get one before the year is over – why not against Wake?
And Maryland has a bit of a gauntlet. First North Carolina, a game that Maryland should be pretty big underdogs in, then Florida State and Boston College. UMD has a habit of losing to Boston College in big games at the end of the year, but hopefully that trend can be broken.
Now, as unbalanced as that schedule sound, I see some hope in it. Why? Maryland still controls their own destiny. Both Wake and FSU have a game out of the conference. Wake Forest doesn’t need to lose a game (and FSU doesn’t need to lose against BC) for Maryland to win the conference. If they run the table, as unlikely as it sounds, they’ll be 6-2. Wake Forest, if they win their final 2 games, will also be 6-2. FSU, if they beat BC and lose to Maryland, will be 5-3. Maryland will hold the tiebreaker over Wake Forest in the head to head. So, somehow, after losing to VT and both FSU and Wake winning conference games, Maryland is in control. Can’t really believe it, but I’m not going to complain.
If the Terps do make it to the title game, then they’ll likely match up with either VT or UNC. VT would be a revenge game: outside of Blacksburg, I like our chances much better. Remember, this team showed life, and if not for terrible playcalling, might’ve won the game. Certainly, it would’ve been much closer. UNC…well, we’ll see how they match up on Saturday.